Carretto Siciliano

Horse, again! I took this photo a few days ago. The Fieracavalli is now finished but last saturday many, many carriages came all the way from the Exhibition Centre, to Piazza Bra. It was a great show, believe me. My daughter's favourite one was this, the Carretto Siciliano: the most typical sicilian cart. I don't know the history of this sophisticated mean of transport but I can say that it has a very peculiar paintwork that includes the wheels! It is stunning!

Horse and carriage/#2

I already introduced the Horse and carriage that carries tourists through the town centre, but I I think you should see this one I took in Piazza Bra. It's soooo romantic!

Framed details

I took this photo from the beautiful home of a dear friend. I liked how this huge window frames the view, which, although limited, offers a variety of elements and details...
Just stop for a minute and watch!

The Fieracavalli, International Horse Show

This week a huge event is taking place in Verona: Fieracavalli, the International Horse Festival. Along with Vinitaly (International Wine Exhibition), Fieracavalli is the biggest event hosted by the town exhibition centre. It has a very long tradition, in fact, the first edition coincided with the foundation of the Verona Exhibition Authority, in 1898!
I saw lots and lots of horses today, but I want to show you the butteri (I really suggest you click this, it's really interesting!), as they come from my land, southern Tuscany (as well as northern Lazio, to be fair). They are our "cow-boys" as they work with the vacche maremmane.
These signori were queuing at one of the maremmano food stalls to order their lunch (acquacotta, ravioli, cinghiale, etc.).

Roman guards

If you pass by the Arena in the morning, you may stumble in two funny characters. They are dressed up like roman guards, the centurioni and hang around inviting tourists to stop and have a photograph taken with them, but not for free, of course!
So many times I have tried to photograph them, but I didn't want them to spot me and maybe ask me money! A few days ago they seemed less concentrated on the people around them, so I snapped a shot!

Malcesine

The Lago di Garda is the biggest lake of Italy and it is a few kilometers from Verona. We often drive up there for a walk in one of the lovely shore villages: Bardolino, Sirmione, Peschiera, Garda, Torri del Benaco, ecc. One of my favourites is Malcesine, further north, where the lake gets narrower and it is surrounded by high mountains.
This photo was taken in Malcesine, on a beautiful path that goes out of the village towards this little tower overlooking the clear waters.

Maria Callas in Verona

Maria Callas arrived in Verona from the USA in 1947. Here she will meet her future husband, a rich veronese with a superb villa in the country village near Verona. They got married in a little church in town and lived happy years here whilst her brilliant career took off at the Arena. In 1959 she met Aristotele Onassis and left her husband and Verona, starting that difficult relationship that ended so badly both for her private life and her career.

This building is very close to where I live. You can see a marble plate claiming that Callas lived in this corner flat, during her early stay in Verona, before she got married to Giovan Battista Meneghini.